Canadiens Defeat Blackhawks 3-2 in Thrilling Original Six Matchup

Second Period

Well, if you thought the game would calm down after four penalties in the first period, you were quickly proven incorrect.

The Blackhawks took another penalty early in the first, and Cole Caulfield scored on a deflection displaying his deft hand-eye coordination. The Canadiens finally take a 1-0 lead.

Sam Rinzel, the talented young defenseman for the Blackhawks, didn’t take long to even the score. The Blackhawks finally drew a power play, and Rinzel fired a seeing-eye shot through traffic that beat Sam Montembault.

The goals weren’t the main storyline of this period, though. After Kaiden Guhle laid a big, clean hit on Frank Nazar, chaos ensued. Two fights at once followed between Louis Crevier and Guhle and Wyatt Kaiser and Ivan Demidov. That feistiness only persisted through the remainder of the period.

The Canadiens ended up on the power play yet again after the madness ended. Zach Bolduc notched the go-ahead goal, his third of the season. (Side note: You have to wonder if the St. Louis Blues will regret moving him this summer.)

Connor Bedard found the scoresheet on the Blackhawks second power play after Nazar’s shot from the slot redirected off him. But the Blackhawks couldn’t stay out of the penalty box, with Colton Dach taking the team’s ninth penalty with just under two minutes remaining.

They say your goaltender must be your best penalty killer, and Knight certainly was for the Blackhawks as the Canadiens couldn’t capitalize.

Third Period

Aaaaaand the penalty craziness continued. Connor Murphy tripped Jake Evans and gave the Canadiens their 10th power play of the game. But the Blackhawks’ penalty kill group, the heroes of this game, kept the game even, allowing Nazar to draw a hooking penalty a few minutes later. The Blackhawks couldn’t capitalize either, even with a three-minute shift in the offensive zone.

Knight stoned captain Nick Suzuki off a two-on-one immediately following the penalty kill. The action was literally up and down the ice.

Montembault was equal to the task making some big saves, including on a rush led by Andre Burakovsky.

Ultimately, a shot from Guhle—the man who started the chaos in the second period—ricocheted off Rinzel to give the Canadiens a 3-2 lead and victory over the Blackhawks. A heartbreaker from the Blackhawks, but a galvanizing victory for the Canadiens.

A Little Bit of Everything

This game had a little bit of everything. But the Canadiens came out on top. The Blackhawks host the Utah Mammoth on Monday, continuing their home stand. The Canadiens return home to host the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday. Both teams will use the time in between to recover from a heavy, taxing tilt.